Inventor on Earth is the title of a poem by the avant-garde poet Anton Podbevšek, who was the first in Slovenia to fill the theatre hall with his poetry. He understood it as poetry that requires a theatrical stage for itself. The play Inventor on Earth returns this poetry to the stage, in order to revive his unique presence with a new stage language, realizing that poetry is not just about writing poems, but about a state of mind. At the same time, the performance marks the 120th anniversary of the poet’s birth, which is considered to be the beginning of the historical avant‑garde in Slovenia. By following the inner tensions of his poetry, he is trying to recreate on stage Podbevšek’s “cosmic anarchism”, which expresses the force of the endless expansion of the edge of the possible. If this force is manifested in the desire to liberate the potentials that are suppressed by the unjust order of human society, after crossing the horizon in outer space, the image of a man appears who is a prisoner of the universe itself. The performance was also selected for the competition program of the 54th Borštnik Meeting.
Bara Kolenc is an artist and philosopher from Ljubljana. She holds a PhD from the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. She has both a classical and a modern dance education. She works in the field of performative, interdisciplinary and visual arts. In 2003, she received the Vienna Danceweb Scholarship for talented young choreographers in the global selection. So far, she has created twelve full-length performances, eight performances for young people, and numerous solo performances, performative acts, installations, lectures, and so‑called lecture-performances. She has received several awards for her performances, most recently the globally significant Theatertreffen Stückemarkt Commission of Work 2016, and a recognition award for important works of art from the University of Ljubljana in 2018. More at https://www.barakolenc.com.
Director and Choreographer: Bara Kolenc
Performed and co-created by: Andraž Jug, Leja Jurišić, Urban Kuntarič, Jelena Rusjan, Pavle Ravnohrib, Sašo Vollmaier, Marina Dzukljev
Text: Anton Podbevšek
Assistant Director: Ana Laura Richter
Dramaturgy: Miklavž Komelj
Sound Design: Matevž Kolenc
Adaptation of the piano compositions by Marij Kogoj (Malenkosti): Matevž Kolenc and Sašo Vollmaier
Piano player: Marina Dzukljev
Set Design: Marko Japelj
Video and Photo: Zack Sievers
Light Design: Simon Žižek
Tone Design : Uroš Bon
Costume Design: Špela Ema Veble and Nina Jagodic
Subtitles: Diana Grden
Proudced by: Anton Podbevšek Teater
Financial support: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Novo Mesto, Krka
Duration of the performance: 80 min